The Boston Strangler is a 1968 American crime film directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Tony Curtis, Henry Fonda, and George Kennedy.
It is a true crime history of the infamous "Boston Strangler" murders
of 1962–64. The film opens with a man ransacking an apartment, before the camera reveals a dead woman lying on the floor. It soon becomes apparent that a serial killer is stalking the Boston area, finagling his way into single women's apartments (there are no signs of forced entry) and strangling them to death.
The police, led by Det. Phil DiNatale (Kennedy), pursue various leads and theories but basically get nowhere. The Attorney General of Massachusetts orders one of his staffers, John Bottomly (Fonda), to form a task force. Bottomly is desperate enough to call in a psychic, which results in the task force temporarily fingering an innocent man. Halfway through the film, one Albert DeSalvo (Curtis) appears onscreen. DeSalvo attacks another woman, but this time his victim survives, and even more importantly, bites him on the hand, which eventually leads to the task force finally getting a lucky break.
James Brolin has a small part as Detective Lisi.
Tropes:
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: The last closeup shot of Albert, before the camera pulls back for the credits, has him look straight at the camera.
- Dramatic Sit-Down: James Brolin's brief appearance has him sitting down rather heavily after Peter Hurkos says that Det. Lisi wasn't late because of traffic, he was late because he took some time that morning for a quickie with his girlfriend.
- The End: The closing credits, after noting that DeSalvo was never tried for the stranglings, say "THIS FILM HAS ENDED, BUT THE RESPONSIBILTY OF SOCIETY FOR THE EARLY RECOGNITION AND TREATMENT OF THE VIOLENT AMONG US HAS YET TO BEGIN."
- Face Framed in Shadow: When Tony Curtis finally appears, halfway through the movie, his face is neatly half-framed in shadow as he sits in his living room and watches John F. Kennedy's funeral on TV.
- The Faceless: The face of the killer in the opening scene is never shown, and in the second murder scene there's only a P.O.V. Cam. Tony Curtis does not appear until halfway through the movie.
- Hand Gag: This one proves extremely plot relevant. DeSalvo tries to silence a victim with a Hand Gag, but she bites down on his hand. He winds up letting her live, which leads to him being identified as the Strangler by the wound on his hand.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: A "Colonel Brumley" enters the home of a very good-looking woman. She offers him a drink but he declines. After two cops enter from a side door and it's revealed to be a trap, the man says "In that case, I will take that drink."
- The Peeping Tom: One woman calls the cops in on a man staring through her window from the street.
- Phone-Trace Race: One scene has a woman receiving a harassing phone call, and deliberately keeping him on the line while her roommate scampers to another apartment and calls the cops. The cops trace the call to a phone booth and the man is arrested.
- P.O.V. Cam:
- Used for a shot of the killer climbing the stairs, after he has tricked an old lady into inviting him in.
- Another shot shows DeSalvo scanning the names on apartment buzzers, with the camera stopping on a label that indicates a woman living alone.
- Reveal Shot: The camera following the man ransacking an apartment eventually pans to reveal a corpse lying on the floor.
- Serial Killer: Albert DeSalvo, the Boston Strangler, identified as the killer of thirteen women.note
- Serial Rapist: He's this as well, although the police are unsure about it for some time.
- Split Screen: Used heavily throughout the film. A Time-Passes Montage of the investigation is shown with a series of split screens. Split screens are used in murder scenes. Sometimes the split screen shows the same shot in two different ways: on two occasions the discovery of a victim is shown in split screen, with a middle-distance shot showing a body as a witness discovers it, paired with the same shot zoomed in on the witness's horrified face.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: In one scene where DiNatale is interrogating a john, after getting tipped off by the john's suspicious prostitute.DiNatale: You know a girl named Chloe.
Carr: I don't know any hookers.
DiNatale: I didn't say she was a hooker. - Third-Person Person: Peter Hurkos, the psychic called in by a desperate Bottomly, does this a lot. ("Maybe Hurkos big fake.")
- Time-Passes Montage: A montage in split screen shows the investigation pursuing a series of fruitless leads: peeping Toms, creeps who shine flashlights on women in movie theaters, creeps who make obscene phone calls, etc.
- Verbal Irony: After the murder cons an old lady into letting him in, she says "Well, you know you can't be too careful these days", as she greets him at the door.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Much of the story is fictionalized, including the suggestion that DeSalvo had a split personality, an idea that was never raised in the real investigation.
- Villain Opening Scene: The first scene shows a man ransacking an apartment, before revealing a dead body on the floor.
- Where Everybody Knows Your Flame: One lead has Bottomly going to what is clearly a gay bar (men are dancing together).Patron: (regarding Bottomly) I've seen some put-ons, but that one's carrying it too far.
- White Void Room: The interrogation room where Bottomly grills Albert in the third act is maybe not technically a White Void Room, as there is a door and a one-way observation glass window. But it is otherwise painted all in white, and for that matter Albert himself is dressed in an all-white prisoner jumpsuit, symbolizing his isolation and exposure in the featureless room. The movie then ends, and the credits roll, as Albert is shown standing in a corner of the White Void Room, which in this shot lacks the interview table or any features at all.
